Jason Rossi,Josh PeterCincinnati Enquirer
O.J. Simpson, one of the most famous college football athletes and NFL stars and of all time, died aged 76 on April 10, his family announced.
His fame on the football field was stunningly overshadowed by 1994 murder charges, a slow-speed highway chase, his murder acquittal and later prison sentence for robbery stemming from a 2007 incident at a Las Vegas casino.
“The Juice” was a star on and (for better or worse) off the football field. So what was Simpson’s net worth when he died?
Simpson's complicated legacy: O.J. Simpson just died. Is it too soon to talk about his troubled past?
O.J. Simpson’s net worth when he died
Simpson starred in the NFL in the late 1960s and 1970s, well before salaries reached seven figures.
Yet he parlayed his football fame into a lucrative second career as an actor, spokesperson and football commentator on TV.
His acting credits included the disaster movie “The Towering Inferno,” “Capricorn One” and an episode of the celebrated TV miniseries “Roots” while he was an active player. He later starred in a trio of “The Naked Gun” comedy movies.
Simpson’s net worth sat at $3 million when he died, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
After being acquitted for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown-Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, Simpson was found civilly liable for their deaths in 1997. He was ordered to pay $25 million in damages.
All of that came long after Simpson established himself as a football superstar.
O.J. Simpson's early life as football star
Orenthal James Simpson was born July 9, 1947, in San Francisco. He was known as “O.J.” from birth, the son of Eunice Simpson and Jimmy Lee Simpson.
At San Francisco's Galileo High School, Simpson emerged as a football star.
He enrolled at City College of San Francisco in 1965 and continued to shine on the football field. He was named to the Junior College All-America team and was a coveted prospect by Division I colleges.
Simpson elected to transfer to the University of Southern California, where he led the nation in rushing during the 1967 and 1968 seasons. He was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy as a junior before winning the award as a senior.
The Buffalo Bills selected Simpson with the first pick in the 1969 American Football League draft. (The AFL and NFL merged in 1970).
Simpson’s storied football career — he was the 1973 NFL MVP, led the league in rushing four times (including with 2,003 yards in a 14-game season in 1973), was a five-time all-pro and entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985 — was overshadowed by his murder trial.
O.J. charged with murder; the trial
There was the televised low-speed car chase in 1994, with Simpson in his white Ford Bronco and police in pursuit as Los Angeles residents cheered from freeway overpasses.
There was the so-called "Trial of the Century" in 1995, when a host of high-powered figures emerged, including Johnnie Cochran, one of Simpson’s defense attorneys.
Cochran turned a bloody glove found at the scene of the crime into one of the most memorable moments of the trial. In the courtroom, when Simpson struggled to put his hand inside the glove, Cochran told the jury, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit."
Kardashian family patriarch Robert Kardashian was also a member of Simpson’s high-powered team of defense attorneys.
Simpson’s acquittal set off celebrations from those who pointed to historically unjust treatment of Black people by the U.S. justice system. It also led to dismay from those who argued that, regardless of race, the system favored those who could afford high-priced lawyers.
Simpson later spent nine years in prison following a 2008 conviction on robbery and kidnapping charges stemming from a 2007 incident at a Las Vegas hotel over memorabilia Simpson believed was stolen from him.
More: O. J. Simpson's top moments off the field (and courtroom), from Hertz ads to 'Naked Gun'
O.J.'s wives, personal life
Simpson married his first wife, Marguerite, in 1967, and they had three children, including one who drowned in the family's swimming pool at age 2 in 1979, the year the couple divorced.
Simpson met future wife Nicole Brown when she was a 17-year-old waitress and he was still married to Marguerite. They married in 1985 and had two children. She later called police after incidents in which he struck her. Simpson pleaded no contest to spousal abuse charges in 1989.
